Pat Metheny’s music has always had one foot in the familiar and the other somewhere over the horizon.
At Ottawa’s Algonquin Commons Theatre earlier this month, the guitarist brought that restless curiosity to a tour supporting his new release, Side-Eye III+, blending the melodies that have long endeared him to listeners with the musical exploration that keeps his work moving forward.
Pat Metheny and his band at Ottawa’s Algonquin Commons Theatre in October 2026. Photo: Dan Nawrocki
Drawing on decades of music, from his early solo recordings to the Pat Metheny Group catalogue and beyond, Metheny made the past feel less like a retrospective than an invitation to keep exploring.
An opening drum intro set the rhythmic wheels in motion before “Bright Size Life,” the title track from Metheny’s 1976 debut, offered an early treat for longtime fans. Nearly five decades on, the music retains its melodic immediacy, a reminder that Metheny’s adventurous instincts have always gone hand in hand with a gift for writing tunes that stay with you.
Pat Metheny and his band at Ottawa’s Algonquin Commons Theatre in October 2026. Photo: Dan Nawrocki
His bandmates proved ideal partners in that balancing act. Keyboardist Chris Fishman, bassist Jermaine Paul, and drummer Joe Dyson moved comfortably between tightly arranged passages and more open-ended exchanges, while Leonard Patton added vocals and percussion to the mix.
Pat Metheny’s band at Ottawa’s Algonquin Commons Theatre in October 2026. Photo: Dan Nawrocki
One of the evening’s most compelling moments came with “Trigonometry,” Metheny’s composition associated with Ornette Coleman, performed as a duet with Dyson. Their exchange brought the music’s rhythmic inventiveness to the foreground, offering a glimpse of Metheny’s more exploratory side without losing the sense of momentum.
Elsewhere, the familiar warmth of the Pat Metheny Group repertoire sat comfortably alongside material reflecting his wider musical relationships and newer directions. There was no sense of simply revisiting old glories. Instead, Metheny seemed intent on showing how these different strands of his career continue to inform one another, with melody serving as a common thread through shifting textures and moods.
Pat Metheny and his band at Ottawa’s Algonquin Commons Theatre in October 2026. Photo: Dan Nawrocki
A quieter interlude came with “Phase Dance,” performed as a duet between Metheny and Fishman. The pared-back arrangement gave the melody room to breathe and highlighted the musicians’ sensitivity to one another, providing a welcome contrast to the evening’s more rhythmically charged passages.
The two encores offered a fitting conclusion. “Are You Going With Me?” revisited one of the Pat Metheny Group’s signature pieces before Metheny returned alone with an acoustic medley spanning several eras of his catalogue. Moving through familiar melodic fragments without the support of the band, he brought the evening back to its simplest elements: the guitar, the tune, and the possibilities that remain when a musician knows his own musical language inside out.
It was a lovely way to close: one guitarist, a lifetime of melodies, and plenty of room for the imagination to wander. Metheny may revisit his past, but he never sounds content to stay there.
Pat Metheny and his band at Ottawa’s Algonquin Commons Theatre in October 2026. Photo: Dan Nawrocki
Complete set list
Forward March (Marching Percussion Intro)
In On It
Bright Size Life
Don’t Look Down
Better Days Ahead (Pat Metheny Group)
Timeline (Michael Brecker)
Make a New World
The First Circle (Pat Metheny Group; followed by band introductions)
Urban and Western
The Red One (John Scofield & Pat Metheny)
Más allá (“Beyond”) (Pat Metheny Group)
Phase Dance (Pat Metheny Group; Metheny and Chris Fishman duet)
Trigonometry (Pat Metheny composition associated with Ornette Coleman; duet with drummer Joe Dyson)
Encore 1
Are You Going With Me? (Pat Metheny Group)
Encore 2
Minuano (Six Eight) / As It Is / James / September Fifteenth / This Is Not America / Antonia (solo acoustic guitar)